Nurses need to answer bells earlier. My father could have taken a serious fall in the bathroom but no-one would have known for a whole hour.

Medical records should always be signed when drugs are administered otherwise this can be an over-dosing risk.

Anything else?

Due to having surgery 2 weeks ago, my father hardly has the strength to grip a heavy cup, walk or be able to go to the toilet on his own and needs intense physio.

Two days before I visited, he spilt a cup of water over himself and his bed, when he requested the sheets to be changed, no nurses came for hours nor did anyone help him change his wet clothes. When they finally came round to check, he was told the sheets had dried already and didn’t bother to change them at all.

On the day I visited, he had to wait for an hour after pressing the bell to be taken to the toilet. When a nurse finally came, he had held it in for so long he no longer needed to go. The day after, he was in the toilet and again requested help but no-one came and he was alone for about an hour.

Most crucially, my father is diabetic and requires an insulin injection within an hour of eating. At the hospital, it should be once in the morning (7am) and once in the evening, on the day I visited, we noticed there was no signature on his drug record indicating he had the morning injection. When I questioned the nurse, she told me he had been given it but they had not signed the record. Writing this off as a one-off I was appalled to find out that he was not given the injection Wednesday morning until 9:30am. When questioned, they told my brother they were too busy handing over the shift but when asked shouldn’t a patients’ well being come first they had no answer.

Responses

Your account of your father's care while at the QEII makes us wonder whether or not you have raised these important matters with any of the following:

- sister in charge of the ward

- the matron covering the overall clinical area

- our PALS team

- the Trust's complaints team

Each of these is an important route through which concerns about a patient's care can and should be raised. We know that you shouldn't have to do this, but clearly there aspects of your father's care that deserve to be looked in to. If you are not sure how to go about raising these matters with our staff, then we are happy to intercede on your behalf - please send an e-mail to us at generalenquiries.enh-tr@nhs.net. We'll need your father's details, of course, so that we can get the right matron to investigate what has and hasn't been happening.